Much Too Busy...

It is Thanksgiving week and I am beginning to feel very overwhelmed. I spent yesterday and today working on my paper of Medieval Literature class. It was a 5 page paper and strangely enough, when I am free to write on the topic of my choice, I have no problems with writing but somehow this paper was a struggle. I should have started it earlier, but I wanted to wait for the results of my first paper. I received my first paper last Thursday and was really disappointed to get a C+. I know it wasn't a stellar paper, but I felt that I had some really good ideas. The comments on the paper seemed to be directed more towards the technicalities of writing a paper, as opposed to the content. One of the comments was directed towards the spacing I used (yet, no mention was made on the spacing of the response papers that I have been turning in every week this semester) and other annoying comments seemed to stem from a cursory reading of my paper. The TA graded it and when I asked to talk about my paper with her, she said that she had to be somewhere and to write an e-mail about my concerns. That very day, I wrote my e-mail, but still have not received a reply. I felt dejected the whole weekend, questioning my ability to write and whether I really belong in school. I should have went to school today, but since I was worried about getting a good grade for this class, I decided to stay home and work on my paper some more. Normally I am loathe to miss my art history class, but I am hoping that I can trade notes with someone.

Papers Rain on my Parade

There are so many papers due. Three so far: 1/ Islamic Art and Architecture; 2/ Medieval Literature; 3/ Old English (announced today). Fortunately I already memorized the first 11 lines of Beowulf so that's one less thing to worry about. I guess I will just visit the Old English professor to recite the lines in her office so that I won't get nervous and trip up in class since she suggested the idea.

I don't know what I will write about for my paper topic in Old English yet. I think my favorite was Ælfric's Colloquy. I enjoyed hearing about all the professions. It would also be nice to do something with Bede since I don't really know much about him, but since the paper will be focused on the text and not the writer, the Colloquy seems like a more interesting choice. Not sure exactly what I will explore, but I am hoping to do a full text translation this weekend... but wait, I already have part of it so it shouldn't be too bad. I can start reading and thinking about what to write about. Hopefully, I can think about something unique and interesting to discuss.

The Latin exam is tomorrow. I still have to make time to study for it. I also have to write my response paper about two chapters of Tolkien's Silmarillion (Ainulindale and Valaquenta) that we are supposed to read by tomorrow. So far, it sounds similar to Milton's Paradise Lost.

The Islamic Art and Architecture professor also assigned readings to us. Argh! He seems really wishy washy with regard to whether he wants us to read it for class or not. Actually, we really are supposed to read the articles before coming to class, but since not many students did, he said earlier this week that he wasn't going to bring it up anymore and that we would be responsible for reading them on our own. Today he sent an e-mail reminding us to read them. If he were consistent, then we could plan when we need to complete our assignments better. I'm not sure if I will have time to read it before class with a response paper hanging over my head and a Latin midterm to study for, but I will try. Maybe I can do it on the train.

I would love to make this longer, but the longer I take the less time there is for me to complete everything. Until later!

How Times Flies!

It has been almost a week since I last wrote in my blog. Somehow the days that I spend with Christopher just seem to fly. As they say, time flies when you are having fun. I have more studying to do, but just wanted to take a little bit of time to put down a few words here.

This week I have a Latin midterm—the second midterm, which I guess, shouldn't really be called a midterm, but just an exam. Fortunately, it takes place on Thursday, so I have a little more time to study for it. I am concentrating on getting the vocabulary words down first because if I don't know them, I may not be able to translate the sentences. I also have to work on the 3rd declension words and the new perfect tenses.

My literature professor gave me the go-ahead on writing my second paper topic on speech, words, names and languages in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. I wasn't sure if I should write about those topics, but I have thought about them now and then; they also seem like a topic that I might be able to talk about in depth.

I still have to get started on my paper in Islamic Art and Architecture, but right now there seems to be other pressing concerns right around the corner. That paper won't be due until December and the literature paper is due next week. I have some articles about Fatimid rock crystal objects, but I haven't had the time to read them yet. The professor had a brilliant idea that I should create a catalog for my report, so I'm really excited and eager to work on it and would hate to turn out a less than stellar product (I would hate to turn out a less than stellar project for anything, but especially for this one). One of the articles is written in German, so I should make time to translate it, especially if it has a lot of good and useful information. I think I may have trouble finding pictures to use in my report, but hopefully my research skills will not fail me.

Tomorrow is Latin and Old English. We have to translate some riddles for Old English as well as finishing the last bit of Bede's Account of the Poet Caedmon (which I have already finished last week). Hopefully, I can get enough of the riddles done so that I won't be behind in class. I usually like to work on one page a day, since it can be pretty time consuming to look up all the words, but since we are behind in our syllabus, I thought we might be skipping the riddles to work on Beowulf since our professor mentioned that we should begin reading it and didn't mention anything about the riddles up until yesterday. The good thing is that the riddles are short and we are only responsible for some of them.

I received an e-mail today about the winter scholarship. It seems that I was awarded a scholarship for a winter session class. I would really love to go, but with the new house needing work, I'm not sure if I could do it. Because the winter session is so short, the classes meet everyday. But who knows, maybe I can do it if I only take one class. I will have to speak to Christopher about it and see what he says.

Looking Forward to Thursday

I'm so glad that tomorrow is Thursday since that is when my weekend starts. Not that I get to goof around since a student's work is never ending, but at least I can take a breather.

I finally committed all 11 lines of Beowulf in Old English/Anglo-Saxon to memory, but now just have to worry about vocalizing it smoothly. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember the next line. I also have all of the words in Bede's Account of the Poet Caedmon translated in my textbook and may now concentrate on writing it out (if I have some spare time) so that it is easier to read.

I also have to start my second major paper for my Tolkien and Medieval Literature class this weekend and also start working on my Islamic Art and Architecture paper on rock crystal objects during the Fatimid dynasty. I already have some journal articles printed out which are hopefully useful. The professor said that he has a reference for me too, so that should help set me on the right track. I also have to start reviewing the slides from week 6 so that I don't feel overwhelmed with image identifications before the final exam.

Our second Latin exam is coming up next week and so I have to prepare for that too over the weekend.

And between all this, I hope to get a little bit of knitting done so that I will have a warm scarf before the cold weather sets in.

School keeps me really busy, but also happy, especially when I'm on top of everything. I can't imagine doing anything else that is as satisfying as the process of learning and discovery... well, I guess there is the exception of creating things, like drawing, painting, writing, knitting, cooking and baking.

Ok, I guess I should go now. I want to see if there is any significant discussion about rock crystals or references to other works in my textbook.

Design-her Gals

While going through the offers I received in my e-mail Inbox, I was intrigued by a Franklin Covey offer and clicked on the link to their site. After a while, I found a luggage tag which seems ideal for replacing the dilapidated plastic ID and train pass holder I have. Through reading the item's description I found out about a company called Design-her Gals which specializes in creating personalized stationary. The stationary is really unique in that different avatars, or characters, can be created to look like a distinctive person. I created one of myself which I am very happy with. I was able to choose among different options to create a unique image of me such as: hair, eye color/shape, clothing and other identifying props such as things, pets, significant others, etc. Here is my picture

(By the way, in case anyone I know is wondering, I don't have a sheepdog yet, but I'm looking forward to having one in the future.)

I had a really fun time creating my own avatar and I am going to ask Christopher if he would purchase a set of note cards to go with it as a belated birthday gift. Designing my avatar really created a sense of ownership for me and having stationary to go with it makes the stationary very special and personal. The best thing about the Design-her Gals stationary is that 5% of every purchase goes to help Stage IV breast cancer patients through the Gal To Gal Foundation. It's a great excuse to buy some stationary for yourself or even for a friend. There is even an option to put both you and a friend or significant other on the same stationary.

By the way, if anyone knows how I can add my avatar to the menu on the left side of this blog, I would be happy for the information.

Yawn...

I'm so tired today. I went to sleep late last night and only got about 5 hours of sleep. I guess I shouldn't do that again. I have to read about 100 pages for The Lord of the Rings, but I will do it tomorrow before class since I probably won't really be able to concentrate on the reading.

I stayed after all my classes were done to print out some documents for my Islamic Art and Architecture class and missed the 5:55 PM train I was planning to catch. I went to Qdoba for a "naked" chicken burrito, i.e., a chicken burrito sans tortilla, while waiting for the next train at 6:45 PM, but later wished I didn't. It wasn't very good and I would have been happier with a home-cooked meal, although, considering the circumstances, I probably would have been too tired to cook anything by the time I got home.

I also took a Latin quiz which was postponed since I was absent last Thursday. I had the option to do it on Wednesday, but felt like that was cheating a bit since everyone else already took it. I didn't do very well on it since I was tired and couldn't really think clearly, but the lowest quiz is dropped from the average, so that's a consolation. The highlight of my day was getting my Old English midterm back... a 98%. Woo HOO! All those hours of looking up words in the glossary paid off. Now if only I can do as well on the final... Oh... and by now, I have, more or less, 7 lines of Beowulf in Old English/Anglo-Saxon committed to memory.

Missed A Day

I was really trying to be good about writing everyday, but before I knew it, yesterday was gone. It usually happens when I am with Christopher. I guess time flies when you are having fun, eh? I'm trying to post this before midnight which is just 7 minutes away... Yikes!

Today I translated another page of Bede's account of the poet Caedmon and I also tried to commit another line of Beowulf in Old English to memory. I'm up to line 6 right now (egsode Eorle, syththan aerest wearth), although I'm still a little shaky on line 5. I also finished my Latin homework for tomorrow. We are doing the perfect, pluperfect and future passive indicative and I am starting to get the English translations mixed up. Practice makes perfect, I guess.

Yesterday, Christopher and I watched Mongol. It was a pretty good movie... beautifully made. I think it was in Mongolian, which was neat... it sounds interesting. Now I have another language to add to my list of languages I would like to learn.

Happy Halloween !

I woke up today feeling much better. I took Actifed for Colds and Allergy last night and maybe that helped... that or the chicken matzoh ball soup. I don't feel quite so "dangerous" anymore and I can breathe a little more freely.

Christopher and I picked up bags of fun-sized Snickers and Nestle's Crunch to give to the kids today and now there are only two Snickers left. I probably won't answer the door anymore just in case there are more than two kids. It doesn't seem very fair to give candy to some and not to others. The kids were very cute and some of the parents also dressed up. One man was carrying a little baby "panda" with him... how adorable is that!

Christopher seemed put off by the idea of giving candy to children though. I thought it would have been nice to give candy away to children as a couple, but I also didn't want to force him to do something he didn't want to do. Right now he is traveling down to his aunt to pick up Jason. They are planning to go to the Eastern State Penitentiary since they are having their annual Halloween tour. I didn't want to go... not because I am scared of the ghosts or actors jumping out trying to scare visitors, but just because it seems like there must be a lot of bad/evil vibes or "impressions" there from all of the men who were incarcerated. It's sad to see people capitalizing from a place of torture and suffering.

Well... off to Bede's world in Old English for me. One page of translation for today and maybe I can also finish The Song of Roland and get started on The Lord of the Rings for next week.

Still Sick

So I didn't go to school today since I'm still sick. Right now I have a headache, probably sinus induced. My head feels all stuffed up and my teeth also hurt... I must have been grinding my teeth again when I was sleeping. I don't think I do it very often, but Christopher says that I do it all the time.

Christopher braved the traffic today to buy some matzoh ball soup from a deli in Lyndhurst, NJ which serves gigantic matzoh balls. I love matzoh ball soup and having a severe cold seems like a really good excuse to ask for it.

The matzoh balls were the highlight of my day. I watched a program about castles on the History Channel and also a program about the Star Wars trilogy and how it is the modern myth. It was a good show, but eventually watching TV became a bit too stressful. Later I watched Jacob the Liar, just because I received it from Netflix and it was still lying around. I started when Christopher was out getting the soup since he didn't seem interested in it when I showed it to him. He eventually ended up watching it with me.

I also got one page of Old English translation done for Bede's story about the poet Caedmon and read part of The Song of Roland. A student's work is never ending...

Sneezy, Sniffly Me

I went to school today despite some misgivings about my cold and in Latin class my fears were justified. Sneezing and sniffling and being afraid that someone might catch the cooties from borrowing my Latin dictionary. Strangely enough, two people asked... of all days!

I'm feeling pretty miserable now and I hope that my box of 60 Puff tissues does not run out. I've been digging into the box heavily, so I don't think it will last that much longer. Hopefully Christopher will be able to pick up another box before coming home tonight. My head and nose feel congested and I've been sneezing deeply. You know, the type of sneeze that rattles your body?

I will probably stay home tomorrow so that no one catches my cold. I hate missing art history class since the course is largely lecture-based. I will also miss my Latin quiz. The lowest quiz grade will be dropped at the end of the semester, but still, it would have been nice not to waste it because of a sick day. Plus, that will be my 3rd absence in Latin. I only have one more, I think, before I use up all my allotted absence days. To top it off, I have my weekly response paper for my Tolkien and Medieval Literature class due tomorrow. I already e-mailed my teacher, so maybe she will allow me to turn it in next Tuesday. Of course, I suppose I could drag myself to school and suffer, but why spread the germs and make other people suffer too?

A Cold and Wet Day

It's a cold, wet and rainy day as I sit on the couch typing this on my laptop. I decided to take a sick day today from my only class, Tolkien and Medieval Literature, after waking up with a sore throat. Besides, the professor said that we should not come to class if we are feeling sick. It's a good time to catch up on all the reading for Lord of the Rings for today. I'll probably also catch up on The Battle of Maldon too since I read it so hastily right before class. I had forgotten my book at home and had to go to the Art library on campus to find it on the Internet so that I could follow along in class.

My nose is stuffed up right now and I can still feel the cold in the back of my throat. Hopefully, with a bit of rest today, I will recover for another day of school tomorrow. I only have to travel to one class, but at least we have a break from Old English. It seems like a good day for a nice mug of hot chocolate, and hopefully, I won't get a lactose-induced tummy ache from it.